Good chip. Very good bang for the buck. If you don't mind spending a little time reading up and tweaking settings, then this can be a very powerful CPU.
I'm running a mild overclock at 4.6ghz. 24hours on prime 95 and the temp never went past 59C on my water cooled system. Handles everything I throw at it.
This thing is amazing - probably Intel's best CPU yet. With a good motherboard, its incredibly easy to overclock, and the voltage needed to hit 5ghz is fairly low (im at 4.96ghz @ 1.395v). The performance is amazing as well. In games its THE BEST CPU available. Bar none. Overclocked its just better. For rendering, its up there. Outside of the 6-core Intel CPUs, it cant be beat. The power usage is fairly low, as well as the heat output.
Basically: looking for a high-end CPU? Get this. Looking for a cheaper high-end CPU? Get the 2500k.
Pros
Cons
Best desktop CPU under $500, great overclocker, fast as hell
I don't do much video encoding and such but I do fold. This thing is great for folding and will give you some solid PPD. Gaming on this is great (though if you're not folding/video encoding go with the i5 2500k) and is easy as can be for overclocking. Overall this CPU will last for a while* and is a great addition to any rig that supports it. There is nothing really bad to say about this processor.
Purchase reason
I purchased the 2600K processor from Microcenter during their promotional period when it was going for $270 USD, pairing it with an AsRock P67 Extreme 6 motherboard in order to increase my folding potential. My specific processor was diffused in Malaysia and was part of batch L050A853.
Overclocking
Overclocking it was close to effortless as with most Sandy Bridge processors. Remember that only the K-series processors have unlocked multipliers which allows for overclocking. All non-k series processors will have their multipliers locked! I was initially content with a 4.5ghz OC using a vcore of 1.296v, but curiosity got the best of me and I later found that I needed 1.356v for 4.6 stable and 1.376v for 4.7 stable.
Temperatures
Core temperatures when paired with a Cogage Arrow with two Yate-Loon D12SH in Push/Pull peak at 68-70C when folding with ambients of 26-27C. I have had to bump the voltage up to 1.384 in order to fold with full stability.
Integrated Intel HD 2000 iGPU
Since I use the processor on a P67 motherboard, I have not had the chance to test the IGPU, but from what other reviewers have said it is more than capable for general playback and even some light gaming as well.
Overall Experience
I originally picked this processor up to boost my folding potential and it has done just that. I went from getting 11k PPD on my 1055T at 3.9ghz to roughly 24k PPD folding normal SMP work units and closer to 40K folding -bigadv work units. I would highly recommend this processor for people who do more than just game on their PC. It delivers incredible performance for its price, and in scenarios where all 8 threads can be fully utilized it will definitely prove its worth.
Pros
Cons
Runs cool, easy to OC, very snappy Intel experience
Purchased several of these from the local Microcenter for use in my builds -- and have never been happier with performance and overclocking capabilities.
Comfortably overclocked at 4.6GHz, the i7 2600K shows no sign of performance issues when playing some intense online games, or when working with resource intensive applications.
The processor also has Intel Virtualization Technology Support, which (providing there is sufficient memory available) allows for the use of Virtual Machines.
Good work Intel, no... Great work Intel!
Pros
Cons
Unlocked flexibility -- Virtualization Capabilities -- Integrated HD Graphics
I originally bought an Intel i5 2500K, however I ended up buying this for the increased performance in multi-core applications. The idle temp is very low (34C with stock cooler), and my load temp has never passed 65C. I like how Intel's Turbo Boost automatically overclocks whenever needed. However, for further OC, make sure you buy the "K" version of this processor.
I agree, love this guy. I wish it had the Ivy platform for GEN 3 PCI for a couple of reasons but I'm not going to upgrade to the 3770 K because I am extremely happy with my overclock and don't want to experiment with a new chip. I think I have enough PCI bandwidth for what I am running 16x at PCI 2.0. It does run super cool at about 4.6 GHz. I idle at 30 and when running Prime 95 and I run between 60-63 using the Noctua NH-D14 and Nochua PWM case fans (7). I also want to do water cooling just for the fun of the build but don't feel have have enough reason to, fans rarely crank anyways. I originally had an i5 2500k. I was also very happy with this but was doing some video encoding as well as gaming so upgraded and moved the i5 to my office comp, lol. Although many people make claims that the Architecture of the i5 is better for gaming I have to disagree. It may be in my head but my comp seemed to be overall more responsive after the upgrade. Again this could all be in my head.... Regardless either processor has plenty of headroom for any game out now with the right discrete graphics card(s). The only con is that If I decide to add another NVidia 770 I would probably need the IVY to get full potential with the extra bandwidth.
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